Has Democracy Hampered India’s Growth?

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5 People are having a discussion on this topic (Raj, Samarth, Ayesha, Gopika, Karan)

Category: Politics, Business

Group Discussion starts

Raj : Hello All, the topic that we are going to discuss is “Has Democracy hampered India’s growth?” India has always taken pride in being a Democracy. Well, India has always carried the tag, ‘world’s largest democracy’. Democracy is ‘A government of the people, by the people and for the people’ as rightly defined by Abraham Lincoln. Democracy has always been acclaimed as the best mode of ruling as the power always lies with the people through a method of representation. But has this led to growth has been the real question.

Samarth : Well, If Democracy had not led to the growth of India, we would have still have been sitting in an age where such urbanization and modernization would not have occurred. Democracy surely has led to a large growth since independence. In that case, any type of rule could not have stopped India from growing. The real question would be whether Democracy has allowed or hindered India from growing at a pace it is capable of.

Raj : Oh Yes that was what I exactly meant. Well, I feel that Democracy has not let India down. Today, there is no other country in the world that is growing at a pace in which India is growing. India has displaced China as the fastest developing nation and all this, with democracy. So, I feel that democracy has not at all hampered India’s growth.

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Ayesha : Well, though it is a fact that India is the fastest developing nation growing at 7.5%, I feel that all this is too late for India to achieve this and the main reason for this is Democracy.

Gopika : Yes, I agree with Ayesha. If it was not for Democracy, India would have become the fastest developing nation which was growing at greater than 10% in 90s itself. China was in a similar state as India during 1950. If China could develop into such a strong nation from 1950 using Communism, India would have been further well off it was not for Democracy.

Karan : Yes, exactly. It is democracy that has hindered India’s progress. Major decisions that can speed up the economy takes a lot of time to get approved. Further, bureaucracy present in the Indian system adds to the woes.

Ayesha : Adding to what Karan has said, let us take the example of the GST bill. It is a landmark bill that can reduce the taxes on various important goods making them a lot cheaper. This can improve the economy high time. But, as a result of democracy, this has stayed in Rajya Sabha just because Congress is reluctant to accept it.

Samarth : But such discussions in Rajya Sabha are essential to bring out the specific areas of the bill which are not contributing to the improvement of the condition of people. Only after such healthy discussions can a bill be free of any ‘not useful’ terms.

Ayesha : Well if that was the case, the bill should have been modified and approved when it was introduced in the Rajya Sabha for the second time. But, that has not been the case. Even after two whole parliamentary sessions, the Congress are unwilling to accept the bill even though it has been modified two times. So, it is the same democracy that is preventing GST from being implemented.

Raj : I surely accept the fact that India has not grown to a level which it is capable of. But I would not attribute the reason to democracy but rather to the citizens ourselves. Firstly, Education is very essential for democracy to be efficient. Since education in rural areas is still a problem, they choose a wrong politician and this leads to inefficient governance and slow growth

Samarth : Not only that, Democracy actually forces each government to work towards better growth as only then, they will be re-elected for the next term.

Karan : If Education was the reason that was hampering India’s progress, how did China, whose citizens have a similar education profile compared with India, be able to attain better growth through Communism?

Samarth : Yes, definitely Communism has caused China to grow at a faster pace than India. But has this development been sustainable? No. China is now facing huge difficulties and slowing down. Communism surely led China to a quick growth but it was not very sustainable.

Raj : Yes exactly, Democracy is the fastest way to reach sustainable growth.

Gopika : Democracy has not helped India to grow quickly because the politicians elected by the people are not proficient enough to run the government in an effective manner.

Conclusion

Well, it is very evident that India has not grown at a rate it is capable of. Democracy in India is not of the purest form. It has always been dominated by corrupt politicians who have come to power by using the votes of uneducated citizens. But at the same time, Democracy would be the most suitable form of governance for a huge country such as India. But as long as this impure democracy continues, India will not be able to grow at a faster pace as most of the important growth inducing laws will not be passed. Hence, it can be concluded that democracy has hampered India’s growth and this state cannot be changed unless all the citizens become more educated and corruption reduces.

Facts related to the topic

• India is the fastest developing nation growing at around 7 – 7.5%.

• China has thus far been the fastest developing nation growing at a rate greater than 10% since 1990s.

• GST Bill, which is a landmark bill, has stayed in the Rajya Sabha for two complete sessions as Congress, which is the majority in Rajya Sabha, is not willing to discuss the bill in the upper house.

• Lack of Education in rural India has led to election of inefficient politicians to the government which has hampered India’s progress.

• Growth in China due to Communism has not been very sustainable as they have started to slow down recently.

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